Saturday, December 15, 2012

Dear readers: This is a selection of three articles I thought you
might enjoy. Especially with Christmas so near I wanted to feature W.F.
Bell's fine little article. I trust you will be safe and trusting God
this season. Amen! (Cw)

DIVIDED BY CHRIST---W.F. BELL"So
there was a DIVISION among the people because of HIM" (John
7:43). Christ is the great "divider" of sinners among men
and nations. He always has been, and always will be. He explicitly
said, "I came not to send peace, but a sword" (Matthew
10:34). What a forgotten word is that! The Christ
we speak of is not the same as "baby Jesus in a manger,"
or "Christ on a crucifix," or "Jesus portrayed"
in a painting. We refer here only to the eternal Son of God, the living
Lord Jesus Christ, who said: "I am the First and the Last. I am
He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen.And I have the keys of Hades and of Death" (Revelation
1:17-18). He came from heaven to die at Calvary in order to "save
His people from their sins" (Matthew 1:21). He was raised from
the dead, and now lives to die no more! He is Lord of all, Conqueror
and King, and will never relinquish His authority to any man.

But men were not sure who He was when He was here! Some said, "This
is surely that Prophet foretold by Moses." Others said,
"He is Elijah, Jeremiah, John the Baptist." Still others,
"He has a devil and is born of fornication." Some
said, "If He is truly the Messiah, will the Messiah come from
Galilee?" See how confused the people were in Christ's
day! And nothing has changed. We are still awfully
confused over Christ and the gospel. Many things divide our nation
at present, including politics, health reform, and even Christmas. Anyone
who has listened to the song, Say Merry Christmas, then reads the
hundreds of comments about the song, is immediately informed as to how divided
we really are. The comments are indeed eye-opening! Here's a
few: "Jesus is really the reason for the season, so let's boycott all
stores not saying Merry Christmas." "If it's all about His
birth, why shop anyway?" "It's all pagan, so let's
stop being hypocritical." "Let everyone believe what
they want to." "What's wrong with celebrating a
non-Christian holiday; why does it have to be Christian?"
Etc. Note here how we are divided over Christ, over Christian
teachings and traditions, over Bible interpretation, and over
"tolerating" the views of others.

Rather than being opinionated about this Christmas controversy, let's
just all remember that no one is right on everything! So
we all must admit that neither me nor you are right, neither the ACLU nor
the ACLJ, neither the Democrats nor the Republicans, neither the Catholics nor
the Baptists, neither those who say "Merry Christmas" nor those who
say "Happy Holidays." The point is we should stop making
such a fuss over a season or a holiday, becausethat is
not the main thing. The main message we must
proclaim is that the Lord Jesus Christ
is the triumphant Lord of glory, and is "KING OF KINGS AND
LORD OF LORDS" (Revelation 19:16). So what if men don't believe
it? That's nothing new (Acts 28:24). I can guarantee you
that God is not frustrated about it, and neither should we be. Leave
sinners to their gods and pleasures. Some day, without
question, Every knee shall bow to King Jesus! It's just a
matter of time when the sheep are divided from the goats.

CALVARY WAS A VICTORY

This world sees
Christ as a fool, the Bible as a lie and God as a myth. None of this surprises
us. Most in Hollywood see Christ as either unimportant or as a fool. The
politicians see Him as a fool, because practically all of them are “Christians”
when it comes time to run for office, no matter what positions inconsistent
with the Christian faith they may take, or how grossly sinful their lives have
been. Yet, our generation was not the first to see Calvary as a defeat. “Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it
they would not have crucified the Lord of glory” (I Corinthians 2:8). Satan didn’t know (not being omniscient as God is), or he would have
opposed the crucifixion. The prophecies were there telling of Christ’s death,
burial and resurrection, but I doubt that Satan understood them. Calvary was a defeat for Satan, and the resurrection
sealed it forever!

It was not a defeat for Christ. He conquered
death, hell and the grave! In Him we conquer all that too, yes “we are
more than conquerors through Him that loved us” (Romans 8:37).
And He loved us before the foundation of the world! Yes on that hill outside
Jerusalem called Golgotha (place of the skull), death came to Christ but could
not hold Him. But, the death blow was given to Christ’s enemies, and God will
manifest that as it pleases Him.

For us it is our
victory over death (I Corinthians 15:1-7).

For us it is our
victory over the world (Galatians 6:14).

For us it is our
victory over self (Galatians 2:20).

For us it our victory
over the flesh (Galatians 5:24).

For us it is our
victory over the devil (Colossians 2:15; cp with Ephesians 6:12). (Cw)

THE WORD, NECESSARY FOOD

"Man
shall not live by bread alone, but by every Word that proceedeth out of the
mouth of God"(Matthew 4:4).

“If God so
willed it we could live without bread, even as Jesus did for forty days; but we
could not live without His Word. By that Word we were created, and by it
alone can we be kept in being, for he sustaineth all things by the Word of His
power. Bread is a second cause; the LORD Himself is the first source of
our sustenance. He can work without the second cause as well as with it; and we
must not tie Him down to one mode of operation. Let us not be too eager after
the visible, but let us look to the invisible God. We have heard believers say
that in deep poverty, when bread ran short, their appetites became short, too;
and to others, when common supplies failed, the LORD has sent in unexpected
help. But we must have the Word
of the LORD. With this alone we can withstand the devil. Take this from us, and
our enemy will have us in his power, for we shall soon faint. Our souls need
food, and there is none for them outside of the Word of the LORD. All the books
and all the preachers in the world cannot furnish us a single meal: it is only the Word from the mouth of God that
can fill the mouth of a believer. LORD, evermore give us this bread. We
prize it above royal dainties.” Charles Spurgeon, Faith’s Checkbook for July
4th. Emphasis mine-Cw

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